Another State Freedom Index
J.D. Tuccille takes a look at yet another freedom index of the fifty states. While he mentions mixing the results of two different studies, it's not clear to me how he did it. Maybe he's just comparing the two? Still, another interesting way to compare the states. The Mercatus study, which involves more criteria, ranks the top free states as:
1. North Dakota
2. South Dakota
3. Tennessee
4. New Hampshire
5. Oklahoma
and the bottom five:
46. Rhode Island
47. Hawaii
48. New Jersey
49. California
50. New York
The WalletHub index, based mostly on tax and financial criteria, has the top and bottom five listed as:
1. Wyoming: $2,365
2. Alaska: $2,791
3. Nevada: $3,370
4. Florida: $3,648
5. South Dakota: $3,766
47. Illinois: $9,006
48. Connecticut: $9,099
49. Nebraska: $9,450
50. California: $9,509
51. New York: $9,718
California and New York come in last on both. Congrats!
posted by Fred Mangels @ 10:31 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Less taxes = more freedom? I never get that argument. Freedom is the right to speak, act or think as one wants, without hindrance. Anarchy is a synonym.
The argument is wrong on so many levels, but I will start with the obvious. The states that are considered the "most free" are the very same states that have the harshest drug laws, the highest prison populations and the most religious people. People who think that an invisible man has a preordained plan for everyone. How free can you be if a man in the sky is listening to your every thought and watching every move you make? Add the overarching word of the priests and some people are almost incapable of free thought. Even though they may pay less taxes, they often try to halt freedoms of others. Porn movie makers, gays and drug users come to mind right off the bat.
Here's an experiment. Try going to the "free states" such as north dakota with green hair and a guitar. Bring a few songs that shake up the sensibilities of the average murican' and go downtown and see how it goes over. Then go to New York or California and do the same thing. There is a reason that some people think that they are "free" and from my personal experience what they are really seeking is freedom FROM people not like them.
Or maybe I'm crazy.
No. I suspect your idea of freedom is food stamps, free health care, and maybe abortions?
But, I understand what you're trying to say, except you probably don't recognize that both the Left and Right have their fair share of authoritarians.
You claim that there are people who think that food stamps and health care are equal to freedom? Really? Taxes, food stamps, health care have nothing to do with freedom. Those are commodities. Freedom cant be bought, sold or given away. Now abortion does have to do with freedom. But not free abortions. The woman's right to choose is a freedom issue. Limiting the right to choose limits freedom.
Taxes, food stamp and health care in a debate about freedom? Again, i dont get the connection. Conversation about free things is for Jesus freaks, hippies and people who hate the poor. Conversation about freedom is done by the freethinkers from both sides of the aisle.
I would like to see a study as to which state has the most constitutional freedoms. I wonder if people a hundred years ago could even fathom that people today would considering the right to kill a baby freedom.
THC
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